The Academic Program

UH Manoa has the only botany department (BOT) located in a tropical environment
in the U.S. Both aquatic and terrestrial tropical ecosystems provide the
subjects of research and teaching. The department is committed to broad-based
botanical training that focuses on developing an understanding of Hawai‘i’s
unique island environment. While it maintains traditional areas of botanical
study, the department also uses new approaches and current technologies.
It has faculty in anatomy, ecology, systematics, ethnobotany, physiology,
and population and evolutionary biology. Research programs focus on ecology,
evolution and conservation of Hawai‘i’s ecosystem and unique
endemic flora; the ecology and physiology of marine macroalgae; invasion
biology by alien weeds; and the uses of plants by the human cultures of
the Pacific Basin. Participation in the interdepartmental undergraduate
biology program and the graduate program in ecology, evolution and conservation
biology provides interactions with other departments and expands opportunities
for breadth in research and instruction. All botany faculty members, regardless
of rank, teach courses in the undergraduate curriculum as well as at advanced
levels.

The department offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and minor
degrees in botany at the undergraduate level; the MS and PhD degrees at
the graduate level. Undergraduate majors follow a number of career paths
leading to employment as naturalists, environmental planners, policy makers,
conservation biologists, teachers, researchers, and museum or organizational
directors. A number of graduates have assumed important positions in public
and private institutions at the national and international levels. Support
at the undergraduate and graduate levels is available via competitive
tuition waivers and scholarships. Teaching and research assistantships
are available at the graduate level.

The botany programs strongly emphasize field experience and hands-on
laboratory training with locally important plants, their environment,
historical and present uses, as well as the unique aspects of plant evolution
and ecology in Hawai‘i and the Pacific. The department’s website
at www.botany.hawaii.edu allows glimpses into the many environments and
special plants in Hawai‘i, and provides further information about
faculty interests and research.

Over half of all the endangered plant species in the U.S. are endemic
to Hawai‘i. Botanical knowledge and understanding are essential
to the continued preservation of these unique plants. The botany department
cooperates with government and private agencies (see “Affiliations”
below) in conservation efforts for these species. The department also
provides identifications and fundamental knowledge about Hawai‘i’s
unique plants to local citizens, schools, and state and federal agencies.

Hawai‘i’s location provides botany students with the best
opportunity for exploration of tropical marine or terrestrial ecosystems
available anywhere in the U.S. The varied environments and climates present
in the islands allow work from oceanic reefs to the tops of snow-covered
volcanoes. The isolation and geology of the islands have produced a unique
flora, unmatched in its potential for effective study of systematic, evolutionary,
ecological, and ethnobotanical questions.

Affiliations

Botanical studies are enhanced by cooperative working relationships between
the department and Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, Harold L.
Lyon Arboretum, Kewalo Marine Laboratory of the Pacific Biomedical Research
Center, Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit of the National Park Service,
The Nature Conservancy, State of Hawai‘i Department of Land and
Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Tropical Botanical
Garden, Honolulu Botanical Garden, Herbarium Pacificum and the Department
of Botany of the B.P. Bishop Museum, Hawai‘i Agriculture Research
Center (formerly Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association), and Waikiki
Aquarium.

Advising

Student advising is coordinated by the undergraduate adviser who is available
to talk with prospective majors about their interests. An information
sheet is available in the department office. Graduate students entering
the department are assigned an interim committee of three faculty members
who provide general advice. The students committee and the Chair of Botanical
Sciences oversee requirements and provide a link between the Graduate
Division and the student.

Graduate students are encouraged to interact with each faculty to become
acquainted with various research approaches and areas of expertise. Once
a research topic has been identified, a permanent committee will be established
to provide specific assistance.

Undergraduate Study

BA Degree

The BA degree provides students flexibility to pursue a broad liberal
arts education and still gain a sound foundation in botany with an area
of particular interest. Courses are available in conservation, ecology,
ethnobotany, evolution, physiology, structural botany, systematics, and
selected faculty research specialties. The courses applied toward the
botany major may be selected with the student’s interest area in
mind.

Prospective majors should consult the department promptly to design a
curriculum that satisfies these requirements.

BS Degree

The BS degree is designed for those students who plan a career in science
with an emphasis on plants, especially those intending to do graduate
studies. A full complement of basic courses in biology, chemistry, math,
and physics is required in addition to botany courses. As with the BA
degree, students may choose among a variety of courses to fulfill requirements
for the major.

Requirements

BIOL 171/171L, 172/172L and the specific requirements in the following
areas:

Prospective majors should consult the department promptly to design a
curriculum that satisfies these requirements. BOT 101 to BOT 160 do not
fulfill major requirements.

Minor

Requirements

Students must complete 15 credit hours in non-introductory courses with
a grade of C (not C-) or higher.
For evolutionary botany:

BOT 201/201L, and 462

Electives: BOT 410/410L, 430, 450, 461, 470/470L, 480, 662, or 663

For tropical field botany:

BOT 453

Electives: BOT 201/201L, 350, 450, 454, and 461

Individual programs may be designed by the student and adviser for approval
by the faculty.

Graduate Study

The department offers programs leading to MS and PhD degrees. Hawai‘i’s
location offers unique opportunities to study the patterns and processes
of evolution, adaptation, and morphological and physiological variations
within a geographically variable and isolated setting. Faculty expertise
spans from the molecular to the whole organism in marine and terrestrial
environments, with emphasis on evolutionary biology, ecology, ethnobotany,
molecular evolution, physiology, structural botany, and systematics. The
faculty includes a number of nationally and internationally recognized
scientists in ecology, ethnobotany, physiological ecology, and systematics.

In addition to the previously listed affiliations, botany is closely
affiliated with the program in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology,
providing a variety of opportunities for graduate student education, research,
and support.

Recipients of the MS degree often teach at the high school level, pursue
careers with government agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
or National Park Service, or work with environmental organizations like
the Nature Conservancy or the Sierra Club. Those with a PhD may teach
and/or conduct research in private industry or in colleges and universities
or work with environmental organizations or the government.

A brochure listing faculty members and their research areas and publications
is available from the botany office and on the website: www.botany.hawaii.edu.
Applications for admission and opportunities for financial aid and support
are available upon request.

At the time of application, an official record of the student’s
performance on the GRE General Test must be submitted to the department.
The subject test in biology is also recommended. Three letters of recommendation
from persons who can appraise the student’s aptitude for advanced
work are required. In their statement of objectives; applicants should
identify a specific area of study within botany: Conservation, Ecology,
Ethnobotany, General Botany, Marine Botany, Systematics/Evolution or Whole
Plant Biology. Minimum curriculum requirements for each track are available
at the department website. Applicants will be evaluated for their level
of preparation and potential to successfully complete their proposed plan
of study. Application deadlines are February 1 for fall
semester and September 1 for spring semester. Normally,
teaching assistantships are available for the beginning of fall semester,
but openings may occur mid-year.

MS and PhD students are admitted to candidacy when they have successfully
completed any requirements and pre-program deficiencies identified by
their committee and after they have demonstrated the ability to collect,
analyze, integrate, and communicate scientific information effectively
in the English language. This requirement may be satisfied by a class
paper, publication, or other written evidence deemed acceptable by the
committee.

Because scientific findings are typically presented orally, as well as
in writing, all students must gain and demonstrate proficiency in the
presentation of seminars. Students must complete at least two BOT 610
seminars to satisfy this requirement. In addition, MS Plan A and PhD students
must present two public seminars: first, outlining the background of a
research problem and the student’s proposed research program; and
second, at the conclusion of their program, describing the research results
and conclusions. The latter seminar also includes a final examination
by the thesis or dissertation committee. The final examination for the
MS Plan B students includes the presentation of a public seminar summarizing
the results of one of their directed research studies.

Master’s Degree

Plan A (thesis) and Plan B (non-thesis) are separate MS programs with
distinct purposes. Before admission to candidacy, the plan that a candidate
intends to follow must be declared and approved. Plan A is the usual program
to be taken by candidates. Plan B is for students who do not intend to
make research in botanical sciences their profession. Plan B programs
emphasize the methodological aspects of botanical sciences.

MS Plan A (Thesis) Requirements

For Plan A, a minimum of 30 credit hours is required. Of that, a total
of 12 credit hours shall be for thesis and a minimum of 18 additional
credit hours for courses approved by the candidate’s committee.

MS Plan B (Non-thesis) Requirements

For Plan B, a minimum of 30 credit hours is required. Of that, a total
of 18 credit hours shall be earned in the major field or an approved related
field in courses numbered 600 and above. Of these credits, at least 6
(but not more than 9) must be for directed research in aspects of botanical
sciences chosen by the candidate in consultation with his or her committee.

Doctoral Degree

The PhD program includes gaining a working knowledge in an approved foreign
language or other research-tool subject, as well as passing a comprehensive
examination and writing a dissertation. Suitability of the language or
tool subject is determined by the graduate faculty according to the student’s
area of specialization, and proficiency is ordinarily determined by examination
or satisfactory completion of a specific course of study.

Requirements

The comprehensive examination is solely oral, or a combination of oral
and written, and is conducted by the candidate’s committee, plus
any members of the graduate faculty who wish to attend. In addition to
general botany, the candidate is examined in-depth in areas of related
disciplines that have been previously agreed upon by the student and the
committee.

The dissertation is expected to be an original contribution based on
independent research. It is initiated by the preparation of a critical
review of the literature that becomes the basis for a dissertation proposal.
Dissertation research for the PhD degree is carried out in an aspect of
botanical sciences for which a member of the graduate faculty of the field
will accept responsibility as committee chair.

Please note: This Catalog was prepared to provide
information and does not constitute a contract. The University reserves
the right to change or delete, supplement or otherwise amend at any time
and without prior notice the information, requirements and policies contained
in this Catalog.